This invention relates to laser apparatus, and more particularly to beam alignment apparatus for lasers, especially for lasers having cylindrical housings.
The most common serious aberration in collimated laser beams is chiefly caused by the beam being non-concentric with lenses attached to the laser. That is, if the beam emerging from the laser tube does not precisely address the lenses attached to the laser, the beam will be subjected to uneven and unpredictable bending.
It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide laser beam alignment apparatus which insures that the beam is presented precisely in the middle of lenses, filters, and the like optical apparatus utilized in conjunction therewith.
Difficulties attendant to poorly aligned laser apparatus further arise due to irregularities in the lenses themselves. Even relatively high quality, carefully designed components often involve some degree of non-concentric configuration due to the mounting of the component within its frame, or perhaps even due to aberrations in the lens itself.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide beam alignment apparatus which quickly and easily can account for, and correct aberrations in the lenses or the lens mounting materials.
In one class of commercially available prior art system, a laser is encapsulated in a cylindrical housing, which is mounted on a complex lathe fixture. The beam from the laser is centered with respect to rings by alignment on the lathe, whereupon grooves are machined into the housing at either end. Those grooves are aligned with the beam such that the laser may be put in and out of a precision optical system repeatably having the laser beam lined up with the optical system. Hence, in that prior art system, one would line up the laser with respect to a base and line up the optics with respect to that same base, whereupon the tube could be moved in and out of the base without adjustment.
The foregoing prior art method involves substantial inconveniences, however, correction of which are also primary objects of the present invention as follows.
It is an object that embodiments of the present invention be totally field alignable, such that the user can choose not only the method of alignment, but also the degree of precision desired. It is a further object that such embodiments be capable of mass production in accordance with conventionally known techniques, such that the alignment apparatus itself can be utilized to compensate for production tolerances. It is a still further object that embodiments of the present invention allow for modular assembly of plural optical component systems, including spacial filters, collimating telescopes, plural lens systems, and the like.